Peng Shuai 彭帅 was towed off court in a wheelchair in her semifinal match against Caroline Wozniacki. Many media covered this event: NYT, USA Today, SB Nation, the Guardian and ESPN when Mary Jo Fernandez said in this video that
- the rule pertaining to illness allows evaluation on and off the court
- Peng wants to return to the court and doctor said she would not be in danger
- In my opinion, you have cramps, injury or suffering from the heat, you should not be allowed to finish the game which you interrupted. Its very disruptive for your opponent.
- however, I do believe that if the doctor gives you the ok, you can come back out and finish the match
#3 and #4 are a little conflicted.
The women semi final match of US Open 2014 would be remembered by the painful facial expression of Peng Shuai; the hot pink outfit; the unheard of long time out; her crumbled/succumb to the ground and ultimately the wheelchair.
I have never seen any tennis player had taken out a medical time out for this long. Wondering why did US Open allowed Peng such long break time and was it fair to Wozniacki? The match was really tight and enjoyable. I must say Wozniacki was extremely gracious on the face of long time out. She did not complain, just patiently wait, or practiced her serves. It’s Peng’s first grand slam simi final and couldn’t blame her for not wanting to lessen up her claws without a last fight. I remembered at one match, Andy Roddick hurt his ankle (or knee) but did not want to quit. His coach almost leaped into the court – he stood up and both arms crossed a few time, telling the young and wide eyes Roddick to retire.
Playing with pain is routine.
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